Art of the Sword

Here: http://www.jamesakeating.com/JakU.html "Guard position isn't just something you simply do. I've seen many a man strike a fierce pose, a grimace on his face. And not have a clue as to why he's even doing it. Perhaps too many movies. You see each 'on guard position' you are taught to assume has a vital purpose." "Simply study (and realize) the true basis of all of this material which we all so diligently pursue is just human motion, dynamic human motion. Nothing more, nothing less." Interesting article about knife that could just as easily have been written about sword. 

"I will here remind the friendly reader at the outset, since there is a great difference between sword combat in our time and how it was practised by our predecessors and the combat masters of old, that this account of the cuts will only cover what is currently in use and pertinent to the sword. And as to the practice of former days, when they fought dangerously both with cuts and thrusts, I will discuss it in its proper and separate place." - Meyer Meyer is interesting when it comes to thrusting. He directly says thrusting has fallen out of fashion and it's a great difference between his art and the art of the past. Some people have taken to mean that Meyer does not "do" thrusting, that the whole system is a type of "sport" fencing and therefore flawed. However, in true HEMA style, I would argue that this is incorrect. Mainly because there are examples of thrusting in his long sword, these are just a couple I found within a couple of minutes flic...

This is a great little article on cutting by Eric D. Mains. Beautiful presentation. Love the quote: "In true HEMA fashion, I disagree"

...my new sword, on route from Tim Noyes .

Reading Louis Preto's book has got me thinking about a few things, as all good books should :) This picture represents how I tend to align myself when I fence, in a pretty much straight line directly at my opponent (represented by the diamond) with the weight squarely on my front foot: However from reading Preto I notice he has an alignment more like this: His stance is wider and his alignment is more in the centre of his body. After checking Meyer I think both alignments can be seen but perhaps the narrow alignment is adopted in the End stance and the wider alignment is associated with the middle stance, possibly for receiving blows and perhaps as a stronger base for throwing multiple cuts. I've been trying Preto's stance and I find it is more grounded and balanced allowing for more stength and speed. It does however present a slightly shorter measure, it reduces your ability to move so quickly forward (but this could be an experienc...

Understanding and developing footwork - Luis Preto. "Footwork has always been regarded as one of the most important elements to the success of a Martial Artist's performance. However, almost all comments heard about this topic are, usually, generic at best: "great footwork", "amazing speed", "better footwork", thus failing to build a better understanding about what makes up effective footwork. This easy to read book with over 100 photos looks to shed some light on this issue by analysing and systematizing: * The variables that make up effective footwork * The difference between offensive and defensive footwork * The relationship between footwork when using weapons of different length * How to learn footwork so as to have it transfer into sparring" I ordered the book from Preto's website and by HEMA book standards it was relatively cheap. Postage was reasonable and it arrived in good time with recorded delivery. Pros It's a rel...

From my experience there is a school of thought I commonly encounter, what I call in my head the "conversation" approach. This is where one persons makes an action, your opponent makes a response and then you respond back and forth like having a civilised conversation. This mental approach can be detected most easily in two areas, in the onset and in the bind. It looks like follows: 1. Two people advance to just outside of measure 2. At an agreed signal or after a certain amount of circling one will adopt a guard 3. Then the other a counter guard 4. The attacker will then attack 5. The defender will take a defensive action 6. A bind is formed 7. Both partys push backwards and forwards for a bit "feeling" in the bind 8. It all ends up in a heap with scrappy cuts in the bind or semi-half sword wrestling  The problem with this approach is it encourages equilibrium, where the person with the initiative is continually giving it up so their opponent can res...